MS-Monitored Conjugation of Poly(ethylene glycol) Monomethacrylate to RGD Peptides

Development of biologically active polymers is an active area of research due to their applications in varied and diverse fields of biomedical research: cell adhesion, tissue proliferation, and drug delivery. Recent advances in chemical modification allow fine-tuning of the properties of biomedical polymers to improve their applications: blood circulation half-life, stimuli-responsive degradation, site-specific targeting, drug loading, etc. In this article, convergent synthesis of polymerizable macromonomers bearing a site-specific ligand (RGD peptide) using a low molecular weight MA-poly(ethylene glycols) (PEGs) is presented. The method affords macromonomers useful as the starting materials to produce biomedical polymers. We found matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectromerty convenient in monitoring the conjugation process via step-by-step following of PEG modification.